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ANIME REVIEWS

released by Buena Vista Video for Home Video release only
Buena Vista Home Video
100 minutes
$16.99
catalog # ISBN: 0-7888-1107-X









—by Isaac J. Sher

When Disney announced that they had acquired the rights to the works of Hayao Miyazaki, many in the anime fan community panicked, despite assurances that the content of the films would be unchanged. KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE is the first of these films to be released in the USA, and The Mouse has produced a top-notch dub, giving this classic film the treatment it deserves.
  For those unfamiliar with the film, the story revolves around Kiki, a 13-year old country girl from a family of Witches. As Witch training traditions dictate, she leaves home to settle in a new city. Kiki's only magic power is her ability to fly on a broomstick, so she sets up shop as a delivery girl, meeting new friends in the process. It's a beautiful movie, filled with rich visuals, lively characters, and a very moving script.
  Disney has pulled out all the stops in casting the voices for this film, hiring high-profile Hollywood stars...and thank goodness, it works. Kristin Dunst, who is most famous for her role as a child vampire in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, gives a perfect performance as Kiki. Each line is clearly spoken, the essence of the character coming through wonderfully with each word. Honestly, I cannot think of a single criticism for Ms. Dunst.
  The supporting cast is excellent as well; Tombo, Kiki's exuberant boyfriend-to-be, is brought to life very nicely by Matthew Lawrence. Ursula, the young painter, is now voiced by Janeane Garofolo...who, unfortunately, could have done a better job than she did. While the tone and sound of her voice matches the Japanese version of the character perfectly, her delivery is a bit weak...it lacks a certain energy. She's good, but not great. Kiki's benefactor, Osono of the bakery, is voiced by Tress MacNeille, one of the most prolific voice actresses in American animation. Her mimicry of the original Osono is spot-on. Debbie Reynolds and Edie McClurg round out the cast as Madame and Bertha, respectively, giving charming renditions of the lovable old ladies who befriend the young witch.
  And then there's Jiji. Kiki's talking black cat is voiced by the recently deceased Phil Hartman, and his performance is combines both the best and the worst aspects of this film. In the original, Jiji was voiced by Sakuma Rei, a woman, though the cat was still clearly supposed to be male. Hartman's performance sounds absolutely nothing like the original, but it's brilliant, all the same. The cynical sarcasm is conveyed with great skill, and the overall performance is one that I think will charm new and old viewers alike. But not all of those lines he's giving are in the original.
  The major difference between the American and the Japanese scripts is that Jiji has nearly a third more lines than he did originally. It's rumored that Hartman improvised many of these new lines himself in the studio, and that Studio Ghibli was pleased enough with the result that they let these new bits stay in. I'm glad they did, for the most part. Ninety percent of these new lines are absolutely hysterical, and fit in perfectly with the flow of the scene. But that other ten percent? Not so good. Thankfully, it was never painfully bad, just no longer perfect.
  The other area that saw some change is the music. Instead of dubbing new english lyrics onto the existing opening and closing songs, (such as was done for 20th Century Fox's dub of MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO), Disney opted instead to replace the songs with new original pieces which are both quite nice, and fit the mood of KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE well. The musical score has had nothing removed, but there are a few minor additions. Scenes that were silent before now have slight musical accompaniment, with mixed success. To a diehard fan of the original, these additions may feel odd, or wrong; a new viewer won't mind, though, as the music fits with the rest of the score, and isn't too jarring.
  One week after it's American release on September 1st, KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE was #8 in tape sales (#1 being TITANIC), a good omen for the public acceptance of these "new" films brought over from Japan. With luck, the next generation of American children will look back on KIKI with the same fondness that my generation does for family films like BAMBI or DUMBO. The best hopes, not the worst fears, of American anime fans have been realized with this superlative dub.


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